St. Louis @ Toronto preview
Rogers Centre
Fans with outfield seats for Tuesday's game between the Toronto Blue Jays and the St. Louis Cardinals may find themselves short on souvenir chances.
Jaime Garcia brings the second-best ERA in the majors into the interleague series opener between the Blue Jays and Cardinals at the Rogers Centre. The teams last met in Toronto five years ago in a series that saw the Blue Jays take two out of three games from the visiting Cardinals.
The Rogers Centre has been a launching pad for teams so far this season - particularly the Jays, who lead the majors with 106 home runs. There were four hit in Toronto's previous game - unfortunately, three of them were belted by the San Francisco Giants, who avoided a weekend sweep with a 9-6 triumph Sunday afternoon.
Homers may be hard to come by Tuesday, especially with Garcia (6-3, 1.59 ERA) on the mound. The second-year hurler has been as stingy as it gets when it comes to the long ball, having allowed just two in 79 2/3 innings to date. That includes just one homer allowed in 41 1/3 innings on the road, where his ERA is a scintillating 1.74.
Garcia suffered from a lack of run support in his previous start six days ago. The 24-year-old surrendered just two runs on five hits over seven strong innings, but still dropped a 2-1 decision to the Seattle Mariners. He has just three wins over his last eight starts, despite allowing no more than two earned runs in any of them.
The Cardinals are coming off a successful home series that saw them take two out of three games against the Oakland Athletics. St. Louis narrowly missed out on a sweep, dropping the series finale, 3-2, on Sunday. Matt Holliday homered twice in defeat and finished the three-game set with four homers and eight RBIs.
The strong weekend showing has the Cardinals 1 1/2 games up on the Cincinnati Reds atop the NL Central. That division is shaping up as a two-team race - with the Chicago Cubs a full seven games off the pace in third.
The Blue Jays counter with left-hander Brett Cecil (7-3, 3.58 ERA). He has enjoyed a sensational season of his own - and has also been able to keep the ball in the stadium, having allowed just six homers in 70 1/3 innings so far. That includes just one homer allowed in 24 innings pitched at the Rogers Centre.
Cecil is coming off one of his worst showings of the season, surrendering five runs over six innings in an 8-2 loss to the San Diego Padres. It was his first loss in seven starts, and his shortest outing since allowing eight runs in two innings against the Texas Rangers on May 14.
Toronto finds itself a solid fourth in the most difficult division in baseball, with the New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox all sitting at 42 wins or better.